It was a night of starry sky, everywhere was as bright as the time was still 7pm in the evening, but it was 10pm already. Some people were just returning back from their place of work, the road leading to ijoka was so congested, the traffic there was so high, the streetlight casted is shadow on the road and everywhere looked beautiful- just like a paradise.
I was there standing on a walkway waiting for a night bus that will take me to the Northern side of the country to see Mr Ben. He was my Dad childhood friend and they both went to the same Kungfu school where my dad later became a master. He was a good man who always make himself available whenever issue arises, even when my dad was away to represent the country some years back in a kungfu tournament before death finally took him.
While still waiting, a thought came to me and I was so furious. Why did Mr Ben always insisted I should come over to see him? Is there any message my dad has left behind that he needed to tell me, he won't stop sending me mail to come over. While all the thought still coming, the bus arrived and we set out like a wildfire.
Hey man, can I have some high school music? I requested from the driver
Sure boy, you are so lucky I just repaired my tape, he replied.
He turned on the tape and the music was pumping out like "dtun dtun gba, dtun dtun gba" and I heard one of the passenger saying
Sir! Please can you just reduce the volume? I countered her with a question, don't you like music? She was such a charming girl and I have been waiting for a chance to say something to her since we set out, we have had lots of eyes contact and she will put up a charming look and never say anything. I say to myself maybe she was waiting for me to do the talking which I finally did through her request but she never say anything back and I was kind of embarrassed.
It was a long distance journey and the driver was driving at the top of his speed and finally we arrived at Ikon, the most populous city in the Northern side, I checked my time and it was 5:23am. The driver parked the bus and everyone was coming out and when the girl wanted to dropped down, her suitcase fell and I helped her but to my surprise, she just looked at me with a smile and never say thank you.
I crossed to the other side of the road and I took a cab that will take me down to Mr Ben house and 15 minutes later we arrived in front of his old downstairs building and I walked towards the building with my bag.
I knocked the door leading to the sitting room of the house and a woman who is very slim, tall and light in completion came to open the door, she appeared in a night gown with her hair packed inside a head net, I guess she was Mr Ben new wife. His first wife divorced him 3 years ago, a union blessed with 2 children's; a boy and a girl, she didn't support the idea of Mr Ben having a second wife and that led to their separation.
Good morning! I greeted.
Morning young man, she replied.
Are you Xaolin? Inquisitively. Yes! I answered and she ushered me in. She asked me to sit on one of the sofa in the sitting room as she went inside to tell Mr Ben about my arrival. I guess Mr Ben has discussed my visitation with her because she didn't looked hostile to me.
I stared for a moment, then stepped up and walked slowly round the sitting room to see some pictures hanged on the wall. I saw a picture of Mr Ben childhood and turned around and I saw that of my Dad in a kungfu style. Mr Ben came and he was so happy to see me because I can see that great feeling of elation on his face, he hold me tight and whispered to my ear,
"I don't believe you will come until you did" he said. We sat down to discuss while his wife entered the kitchen to prepare the breakfast. He started by saying alot of good things about my Dad which I was fully aware of some while growing up, how they started from small and both attended the same kungfu school and how my Dad has turned out to be the best kungfu student and many more.
"The major reason why I have asked you to come over is to tell you what your Dad told me before death took him," he said. "He wanted you to learn kungfu and there is a book he gave me which I needed to hand over to you." He continued.
I didn't wasted much time before telling him my hatred for kungfu, all I wanted is to go to school and become a medical doctor and have my own family.
"But learning kungfu can't stop you from becoming a medical doctor" he cut in. "Your Dad may have a reason for that, at least maybe for self-defense." I say to myself, is someone out there hunting for me? Why will my Dad want Mr Ben to teach me kungfu for self-defense?
Mr Ben will be in his late 60s and i think and don't need to be rude to him by telling him am leaving immediately. His wife set the table and we had the breakfast together and they showed me my room where I set my bag down. The whole place look bored and I needed to take a walk, I told him I need to take a walk down the street and he agreed but told me to be more careful down there.
I saw a mini supermarket and I branched to take a snacks and a bottle of coca cola but to my surprise, the girl I helped who couldn't say thank you was the one attending to me. I didn't act like we've met each other before because I don't want to get myself and Mr Ben into any trouble. As I was about to stepped out of the shop, I looked back to see if she was staring at me but I saw a guy hitting her with a sparkling slap, even when I never knew what has went wrong between her and the guy. I made a move to defend her but I was beating blue black with some kungfu skills. Thanks to a man who came to rescued me and I was accompanied home with the girl because I can't stand alone on my feet.
When Mr Ben saw what had happened to me, he reminded me on why I need to Learn kungfu for self-defense, I'm yet to spend 24 hours in Ikon and I have already involved myself in a mess but I was happy for the fact that the girl I got beaten for became very close to me, something I have been craving for the moment we started our journey.
The man who brought me home told Mr Ben about some move I made in defending the girl before I was subdued by the guy and his gang, he asked him if I have been learning kungfu before and Mr Ben told him I didn't. Even when I have much hatred for kungfu, my Dad had passed some skills down to me through his gene but I don't want to improve on the innate ability neither did I want to use it but the moment I realized the kind of environment I found myself, I made up my mind to improve on it.
Mr Ben started training me and he was surprised to see the speed in which I had improved, my love for Kungfu started growing and even when am eating, I wanted to show some skills with my spoon. Mr Ben handed my Dad kungfu book to me and I read at my own pace to practice more skills.
I took the form for the national tournament in kungfu and I met the guy who had beaten me up in the supermarket in the final, the memory came back to hit me but I heard a voice from the crowd that says "beat him up Xaolin" it was the voice of Kate, the girl I met in the bus, the girl i was beaten up for in the supermarket, I made up my mind to show all my skills and hold on my breath to the last minute to win the fight for her.
I was knocked down in the first round and I had already dislocated my arm but I took a deep breathe and I won the second round and the final round to took the glory.
This is my entry for the freaky Friday contest organized by @pete, you too can follow this link to join.
I hope you find this post interesting and educating, until then, I remain my humble self @Oxygen02. Thanks For Reading.👍
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